This Orq! This Woma! Orq the cave boy loves Woma the woolly mammoth very much. But his mother doesn’t feel the same way. To her, Woma is a hairy, smelly beast who isn’t even house-trained. What can Orq do to persuade his mother that Woma is the perfect pet?

The Orq. (He Cave Boy.) is a funny and positive story about friendship and loyalty.

Take one cave boy, add a woolly mammoth, and with David Elliott's clever story and Lori Nichols' charming illustrations, you've got a recipe for a children's picture book that already feels like something of a classic ... a book with a mammoth heart. - Damian Kelleher

Full Reviews of This Orq. (He Cave Boy)

Can a prehistoric picture book pack a real punch? You bet it can! Take one cave boy, add a woolly mammoth, and with David Elliott's clever story and Lori Nichols' charming illustrations, you've got a recipe for a children's picture book that already feels like something of a classic.

Orq is a boy who lives in a cave and carries a club. His best friend is Woma, a woolly mammoth who grows bigger and bigger, posing something of a problem for Orq and his mother; he smells and he's not house trained (or maybe that should be cave trained). In by far the longest sentence in the book – 'Mama say, "Get that woolly mammoth out of this cave!" – Woma is banished from the homestead. So Orq has to come up with all sorts of plans to get his friend back in the cave, none of which works. But as luck would have it, fate steps in and Woma gets a chance to prove his true worth.

As with so many gifted children's writers (think Dr Seuss, think David Almond) David Elliott know that you can still squeeze a heck of a lot of meaning into a sentence with just a handful of words. But here's a fine example of pictures and words working together in total harmony to create a story that younger kids will understand immediately, and absolutely love. Oh, and there's even a great gag at the end to make everyone laugh. So, a book with a mammoth heart. Happy days, indeed.

Anyone who has had dealings with young children and their speech development (or indeed their emergent writing ) will know that initially they go for the content words and omit the functors from their utterances. A similar thing happens when someone – child or adult – learns to speak an additional language. So it is with the small child protagonist in this story, which begins thus:

This Orq.He live in cave.He carry club.He cave boy.​And continues in similar cave-boy speak vein.

Orq has a pet baby woolly mammoth Woma, but like all infant animals Woma grows and grows… From his mother’s point of view, Woma is far from the perfect pet: he sheds his hair, he’s extremely whiffy and he leaves large deposits of pooh on the cave floor. Woma has to go, she decrees. Orq is devastated and resolves to demonstrate his beloved Woma’s desirability by teaching him tricks (with a bit of assistance from some of his other smaller pets). The results are a series of wonderfully comic disasters, and a far from impressed Mother: No chance of her allowing Woma to set even one tusk tip back in the cave.

Some time later Orq’s imaginary play ‘He mighty hunter!’ turns alarmingly real when a sabretooth tiger with his mind on lunch appears on the scene. A face-off between said tiger and Woma ensues. The latter’s love for Orq proves superior and results in an indebted Mother having a change of heart about Woma.

The spare narrative style with its oft repeated ‘Orq loves Woma’ works well for this emotionally charged prehistoric tale. Elliott succeeds in conveying the strong feelings between boy and mammoth with gentle humour and occasional stabs of pathos, both elements being echoed in Lori Nichols’ splendidly quirky, digitally coloured pencil illustrations. There are some delicious details such as the stone age tricycle on the title page and the sign on the cave wall. And that final throwaway twist is just superb.

​Me love ending. Me love book. Definitely a winner where young children are concerned and I suspect a proliferation of caveboy speak to ensue temporarily whenever it’s read aloud.

What sort of pet might you have if you were a cave boy or girl? Perhaps a woolly mammoth? Meet Orq the cave boy and Woma an adorable woolly mammoth. They love each other and are inseparable. The trouble is Orq’s mother is much less keen on having a woolly mammoth as a pet, particularly when Woma grows far too big to accommodate in their cave, sheds fur, is smelly and isn’t even house/cave trained. Even teaching Woma clever tricks backfires and it looks as if Orq and Woma will have to part company … until one day Woma proves his worth by saving Orq from becoming lunch for a sabre tooth tiger.

The text is written in an amusing mock cave man style: ‘This Woma – Woma woolly mammoth – Orq love Woma’. The illustrations are very attractive and the apparent use of crayon to add a graffiti effect with hearts and thought bubbles is very effective.

This amusing and attractive picture book with appealing characters explores themes of friendship and loyalty. It would be great fun for parents and children to share together. ​